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Graded
Mix universally beloved characters under the Disney umbrella and package them as trading cards, a true field day for collectors who love pop culture. In 2023, Kakawow released their last card set dedicated to 100 years of The Walt Disney Company that combined characters from the “House of Mouse” with Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars. […]


Mix universally beloved characters under the Disney umbrella and package them as trading cards, a true field day for collectors who love pop culture. In 2023, Kakawow released their last card set dedicated to 100 years of The Walt Disney Company that combined characters from the “House of Mouse” with Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars. The set featured 468 cards with 72 collector chase cards in Black Gold escalating values.
The All-Stars in the 2023 set includes Ariel, Scrooge, Huey & Dewey & Louie, Elsa, Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Simba, Bambi, Cinderella, Snow White, Aladdin, Peter Pan, Baloo, Lady and Tramp, Woody, Mr. Incredible, Wall-E, Goofy, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and of course Mickey and Minnie Mouse among many others.
In the Star Wars saga base mix, collectors could get Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Rey, Kylo Ren, Chewbacca, Boba Fett, and the world’s favorite robots – R2-D2 and C-3PO.
There is the base C-3PO card (CDQB228) card, and Kakawow added value with Black Gold and Dual Signatures. Of the 360 characters cards in the 2023 Kakawow Cosmos Disney 100 All-Stars release, just 72 characters were made into Black Gold parallels.
From the Star Wars universe, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, R2-D2, and C-3PO were the only ones that got a 1-of-1 Black Gold treatment.
The value of the 1-of-1 C-3PO Black Gold has not been set. A Gold 1-of-10 Luke Skywalker sold online for $175 in late February while a Gold Mickey Mouse sold for $799.99 on March 31. A Black Gold #CDQ-IBG-1 Winne the Pooh graded 10 sold for $915 during a Goldin Auctions in late November 2024.
The Love for C-3PO
Baby Boomers and, especially, Generation Xers have spent a great deal of their life caring for the happenings of C-3PO. The brainchild of film maker George Lucas, fans were introduced to the protocol droid in 1977 in the box office blockbuster Star Wars instantly becoming an all-time cinema great character. A mainstay in all the Star Wars iterations, C-3PO has appeared in nine films; prequel, original trilogy, and sequels, Rogue One, and animated films and TV shows.
The look of C-3PO was created by Ralph McQuarie, who was inspired by the film Metropolis. The voice work and physical actions for C-3PO on screen in the Skywalker saga has been portrayed by actor Anthony Daniels.
Have you landed a card you love and/or of value? Protect it and increase your card’s worth by having it graded with Beckett.
Sports
Manor College Names New Men’s Volleyball, Women’s Volleyball and Women’s Basketball Head Coach
McCurdy, from Philadelphia, is described as a dedicated, detailed head coach who seeks effort on and off the court. Manor College Men’s Basketball vs. Central Penn College – December 17, 2024. Mike McCurdy hadn’t yet formalized his basketball training company when he began working with a seven-year-old Autistic boy in Philadelphia. The boy’s mother was […]

McCurdy, from Philadelphia, is described as a dedicated, detailed head coach who seeks effort on and off the court.

Mike McCurdy hadn’t yet formalized his basketball training company when he began working with a seven-year-old Autistic boy in Philadelphia. The boy’s mother was looking for a coach to do basic skills training and felt comfortable working with McCurdy.
Over the past three years, McCurdy worked with the boy, and each session saw the boy’s growth on the court. More importantly, the child was enjoying the game.
“The response and the reward you get from seeing a person grow and what happens after drives me as a coach,” McCurdy said. “You see the look on their face, the work they put in, it’s so rewarding. You can’t fully put words to it. It’s being inspired by a dedication to watching them grow themselves.”
McCurdy, of Northeast Philadelphia, will become the Women’s Basketball, Women’s Volleyball and Men’s Volleyball head coach for Manor College starting in the Fall 2025 semester.
“Mike is so dedicated to his craft that his hiring was a no-brainer for me,” John Dempster, Manor College Athletic Director, said. “Coach McCurdy is a great recruiter and will have this team up and running in no time. I’m really looking forward to watching our programs grow.”
McCurdy isn’t a stranger to Manor College. He graduated from Franklin Towne Charter High School and currently works as a health Teacher at MaST Community Charter School II in Northeast Philadelphia.
McCurdy was first introduced to Manor through Men’s Basketball Head Coach Leo Mahon, who saw McCurdy during a summer camp and liked McCurdy’s attention to detail. The two clicked over coaching.
“There’s no way he’s putting in the hours he does if he doesn’t love it,” McCurdy said of Mahon. “He loves the process of coaching. He’s a great mentor to me.”
McCurdy sums up his coaching style as someone who rewards effort – “give and take.”
“Whatever you give me, I expect you to reciprocate with your effort on the court,” McCurdy said. “I am not going to micromanage your game. I’m going to let you go out there and be comfortable playing your game as long as you’re giving me that effort on the court.”
McCurdy’s volleyball experience begins with playing the sport as a child. He stopped playing after breaking his arm in sixth grade, but continued to manage teams in the years since.
“I love volleyball because it can’t be won with one person,” McCurdy said. “One person can take over, but to finish it, it takes six players on the court. I’m trying to find the closest knit group and make them a family. You need to trust that your teammate has your back.”
McCurdy describes playing at Manor College as a place where one can work hard and gain opportunities.
“You’re going to get the opportunity to play and what you do with that time is up to you,” McCurdy said. “When I go there, I see it. At Manor, you have to work hard, but Manor will give you the opportunity.”
Read More:
Manor College Debuts Women’s Flag Football, Men’s Volleyball for 25-26 Academic Year
Manor College Offers Free Resources to Former Crozer Health Employees
Meet the Voices of Manor College’s 2025 Graduating Class
Learn More:
Schedule a visit to Manor College
Apply to Manor College
Become a Blue Jay Athlete
Sports
Week 5 Preview – Intuit Dome Transforms into a Beach, July 11-12
Undefeated top seed L.A. Launch (4-0) returns to the court to face their fiercest challenger yet – the red-hot Palm Beach Passion (6-2). Over eight matches across two nights, the stakes are high: can Launch keep their perfect record, or will Passion take control of the leaderboard? Top Storylines Seven Olympians, one roof. Dalhausser’s farewell […]

Undefeated top seed L.A. Launch (4-0) returns to the court to face their fiercest challenger yet – the red-hot Palm Beach Passion (6-2). Over eight matches across two nights, the stakes are high: can Launch keep their perfect record, or will Passion take control of the leaderboard?
Top Storylines
- Seven Olympians, one roof. Dalhausser’s farewell tour meets 2024 silver medalists Brandie & Mel.
- Perfect vs Proven. Launch are unbeaten but have to play the #2 ranked Passion; Saturday decides control of the standings.
- Stat monsters. Wilkerson/Humana-Paredes hit an astounding .660 last outing — one of the best pair efficiency of the season: Kraft’s four-ace run and Cannon’s four-block wall headline Launch’s counter punch.
- Newberry’s Introduction. UCLA alum Devon Newberry steps in for Smash to replace injured Rodriguez
Current Standings Snapshot
- L.A. Launch 4-0 (10 pts) — 2nd of 4 events
- Palm Beach Passion 6-2 (17 pts) — 3rd of 4 events
- Brooklyn Blaze 6-6 (19 pts)
- Austin Aces 4-4 (11 pts)
- Dallas Dream 5-7 (17 pts)
- San Diego Smash 3-5 (9 pts)
- New York Nitro 3-5 (8 pts)
- Miami Mayhem 1-3 (5 pts)
Broadcast Schedule (Pacific Time)
Day | Time | Match | Where |
Fri | 6 pm | Women – LAUNCH vs SMASH | AVP YouTube Channel |
7 pm | Women – PASSION vs MAYHEM | CBS Sports | |
8 pm | Men – PASSION vs MAYHEM | CBS Sports | |
9 pm | Men – LAUNCH vs SMASH | AVP YouTube Channel | |
Sat | 5 pm | Women – PASSION vs LAUNCH | CW |
6 pm | Men – PASSION vs LAUNCH | CW | |
7 pm | Women – MAYHEM vs SMASH | AVP YouTube Channel | |
8 pm | Men – MAYHEM vs SMASH | AVP YouTube Channel |
Recent Head-to-Head Numbers
Earlier this season, every rematch went the distance—four matches, four three-set thrillers. Week 2 in San Diego: LA Launch’s Hagen Smith & Logan Weber survived the Smash 13-15, 16-14, 18-16, while Terese Cannon & Megan Kraft out-lasted Urango/Van Winkle 15-9, 21-23, 15-11. Week 3 in Miami: Palm Beach Passion’s Phil Dalhausser & Trevor Crabb flipped a 13-15 opener into 15-13, 15-10 over Mayhem, and Brandie Wilkerson & Melissa Humana-Paredes rallied past Cheng/Shaw 18-20, 15-11, 15-10.
- Hagen Smith (.368, 5 aces) & Logan Weber (.308, 4 blocks) edged Budinger/Evans by +2 pts.
- Phil Dalhausser (.647, 2 aces, 2 blocks) & Trevor Crabb (.478) iced Schalk/Shaw by +5 pts.
- Megan Kraft (.423, 4 aces, 21 Digs) & Terese Cannon (.455, 1 ace, 4 blocks) beat Urango/Van Winkle by +8 pts.
- Brandie Wilkerson (.739, 2 aces, 4 blocks) & Melissa Humana-Paredes (.593) beat Cheng/Shaw by +7 pts.
Takeaway: Passion’s women own the efficiency crown (.666), LA Launch Men and Women’s ace + block combo, and Dalhausser still hits like it’s 2008.
Friday — July 11
Palm Beach Passion vs Miami Mayhem
- Wilkerson/Humana-Paredes vs Cheng/M. Shaw
- Dalhausser/T. Crabb vs Schalk/J. Shaw
L.A. Launch vs San Diego Smash
- Cannon/Kraft vs Urango/Newberry (rookie debut)
- Smith/Weber vs Budinger/Evans
Saturday — July 12
#1 Passion vs #2 Launch
- Wilkerson/Humana-Paredes vs Cannon/Kraft
- Dalhausser/T. Crabb vs Smith/Weber
Miami Mayhem vs San Diego Smash
- Cheng/M. Shaw vs Urango/Newberry
- Schalk/J. Shaw vs Budinger/Evans
Get in the Building
Intuit Dome, 3930 W Century Blvd, Inglewood.
Doors Open: Fri 5 pm, Sat 4 pm.
Grab seats at AVP.com/tickets
Sports
Kansas volleyball All-American Camryn Turner joins Washburn staff
Washburn men’s basketball on Elite 8 win against Lenoir-Rhyne Washburn’s Brett Ballard, Brayden Shorter and Dillon Claussen spoke after the Ichabods’ 90-78 win over Lenoir-Rhyne in the Elite 8 on Tuesday. Provided by NCAA TOPEKA — Over a decade ago, Chris Herron was coaching Camryn Turner’s second grade volleyball team. The introductory skills and rules […]

Washburn men’s basketball on Elite 8 win against Lenoir-Rhyne
Washburn’s Brett Ballard, Brayden Shorter and Dillon Claussen spoke after the Ichabods’ 90-78 win over Lenoir-Rhyne in the Elite 8 on Tuesday.
Provided by NCAA
TOPEKA — Over a decade ago, Chris Herron was coaching Camryn Turner’s second grade volleyball team. The introductory skills and rules of the game were taught, but the Washburn volleyball coach saw something different in Turner’s skills at a young age.
“I thought she was going to be ridiculously good,” Herron told the Capital-Journal. “She was so athletic even then and she was our best passer in the second grade.”
Turner, who is a Seaman High School grad, is heading back to help one of her first coaches. She will be a part-time assistant coach for the Ichabods this season.
Turner was an All-American setter for Kansas in 2023 and 2024. She was also named the 2023 Big 12 Setter of the Year.
“I am so excited for this opportunity to see volleyball from a different perspective. Not only that but getting to coach with an amazing group of girls and coaches who will push me to grow, and I hope I can do the same in return,” Turner said in a press release.
Turner is coming off of her first professional season, where she played for the Grand Rapids Rise in the Pro Volleyball Federation. She will be helping Washburn with their camps beginning next week.
Herron explained that Turner will have the typical expectations of a graduate assistant. She will have the roles of setting bus schedules and meals. In the gym, Turner will be working with the Washburn setters.
“She’s also left-handed,” Herron said. “We’ve got a couple left-handed kids in the program that will obviously benefit from that.”
Liam Keating covers high school sports for The Topeka Capital-Journal. Send stats or information to him at Lkeating@gannett.com
Sports
Men’s Volleyball Adds Alex Knight as Assistant Coach
LOS ANGELES – UCLA head men’s volleyball coach John Hawks announced on Thursday that the program has hired Alex Knight as an assistant coach. Knight returns to Westwood after concluding his professional playing career in Germany in 2025 with SWD Powervolleys Düren in the German Bundesliga. He also played for the Bruins and received both […]

Knight returns to Westwood after concluding his professional playing career in Germany in 2025 with SWD Powervolleys Düren in the German Bundesliga. He also played for the Bruins and received both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from UCLA, where he helped the Bruins win national titles in 2023 and 2024.
“We are thrilled to welcome Alex back home to Westwood,” head coach John Hawks said. “Alex brings a winning pedigree both from his time at UCLA where he was an AVCA All-American and a two-time national champion, and from his professional playing days. Alex is a Bruin through and through, and I can’t wait to see the impact he will make on the young men in our program.”
Knight had a successful season in Germany in 2025, helping his club team to the finals of the German Cup, and a sixth-place finish in the league standings at the end of the season. He returns to Westwood having made appearances in 109 matches for the Bruins between 2020 and 2024.
“I am so excited to be coming back home to UCLA,” Knight said. “My time as a student-athlete was a dream come true, but I know that there is unfinished business for me in Westwood. Thank you to Coach Hawks for giving me this opportunity — I can’t wait to step into this new role and help bring more National Championships home for this program.”
While at UCLA as a player, Knight played in a total of 109 matches, playing both at outside hitter and at libero. While playing primarily at outside hitter, Knight totaled 635 kills over five seasons between 2020 and 2024, with a career-high of 257 kills and a .332 hitting percentage as a redshirt junior in 2023. For his efforts, Knight was named a second-team AVCA All-American and a MPSF first-team selection.
Knight played a key role for the Bruins in both the 2023 and 2024 NCAA National Collegiate title runs. In the 2023 NCAA tournament, Knight recorded 21 kills, including 15 in the final, where the Bruins beat Hawai’i in four sets to claim their 20th national championship. After the tournament, Knight was named the most outstanding player of the tournament.
His role was different during the 2024 title run, as he played primarily at libero down the stretch for the Bruins. Knight finished the year with 89 kills, hit .350 on the year, recorded 70 digs, and played every set of the Bruins’ title run in the NCAA tournament as UCLA captured its 21st national championship.
UCLA men’s volleyball enters the 2026 season fresh off another strong season in 2025. The Bruins, under first-year head coach John Hawks, made the NCAA Championship title match for the third consecutive year, won over 20 matches for the third consecutive season, and claimed the MPSF regular season title for the third consecutive year. To conclude the season, outside hitter Cooper Robinson was named the MPSF Player of the Year, while Robinson, Zach Rama, Andrew Rowan, and Cameron Thorne were all named AVCA All-Americans.
Sports
18 Maine South Athletes Earn NISCA Academic All-American Status
Boys and girls swimmers from Maine South accounted for 18 of Illinois’ 83 NISCA academic All-American athletes to help Illinois rank No. 6 in the nation for most selections.A total of 22 boys and girls from the Journal-area were honored.To earn NISCA academic All-American honors, athletes must be a senior with a GPA above a […]

Boys and girls swimmers from Maine South accounted for 18 of Illinois’ 83 NISCA academic All-American athletes to help Illinois rank No. 6 in the nation for most selections.
A total of 22 boys and girls from the Journal-area were honored.
To earn NISCA academic All-American honors, athletes must be a senior with a GPA above a 3.75 and complete an application.
Maine South went all out and accounted for over 1/5th of the Illinois selections.
Only Texas (262), Michigan (210), Ohio (140), Pennsylva…
Sports
Multimillionaire athlete-turned-CEO says he never buys expensive clothes and only flies economy because he’s in constant fear of running out of cash
The U.K.’s football fans might be used to the idea of their favorite athletes taking private jets, suiting up in designer clothes, and spraying champagne after big wins. But former footballer-turned-entrepreneur Tom Beahon still pinches his pennies—that is, despite also cofounding the £950 million pound ($1.29 billion) premium sportswear brand Castore. “I’ve never bought an […]

The U.K.’s football fans might be used to the idea of their favorite athletes taking private jets, suiting up in designer clothes, and spraying champagne after big wins. But former footballer-turned-entrepreneur Tom Beahon still pinches his pennies—that is, despite also cofounding the £950 million pound ($1.29 billion) premium sportswear brand Castore.
“I’ve never bought an expensive watch, I don’t spend lots of money on clothes. I don’t fly business class…even to Australia, I flew economy,” Beahon recently told the Financial Times. “The whole concept of spending also just doesn’t make me happy.”
Beahon used to be a professional youth football player, starting off by playing for the Tranmere Rovers in his late teens, then joining Spanish club Jerez Industrial CF. But his athletic career abruptly came to an end in his early 20’s, as he and his brother Philip ditched the sport to work finance jobs in London, aiming to raise capital for their sportswear venture. Tom joined Lloyds Bank while Philip worked at Deloitte—and by 2015, Castore was up and running. But their pockets were incredibly tight.
For the first three years, the cofounders and co-CEOs paid themselves £1,000 ($1,355) a month in order to preserve money for the business. Tom said he moved back in with his parents, while Philip’s soon-to-be wife paid his rent. The ex-footballer noted these were “rough times financially,” but even after his sportswear business neared a £1 billion valuation in 2023, none of his frugal habits changed. In fact, he lives a low-key lifestyle out of concern he’ll hit rock-bottom by overspending—with no safety net to catch him.
“I did go through a period where I thought ‘I should do something nice,’ but I have always just been a saver rather than a spender,” Beahon said. “I don’t know if it’s because of my background or having lived through those three years where I was constantly in fear of running out of money.”
“That fear never leaves you. It’s deeply branded on my soul—that day-to-day focus on cash, that paranoia.”
Fortune reached out to Beahon for comment.
Growing up with a frugal mindset has stuck with him
Beahon may not be splurging on silk pajamas and caviar for himself—but he’s more than happy to shell out on his parents. He said he likes to buy them nice holidays and business-class flights because they’re in the “getting to enjoy it” phase of life. Meanwhile, Beahon believes he’s still in the “building stage” with long hours, so no vacations are on his horizon.
Plus, he said it’s nice to be able to spoil his parents who never had the chance to enjoy such luxuries themselves. Beahon grew up proudly working class, living in northern England without much money. His family didn’t go on holidays, and he was well aware that others were better off than he was growing up. It’s another reason he’s so frugal today—and that perspective has stuck with Beahon in leading his highly lucrative athletic-wear business.
“When we started Castore, I vividly remember meeting other entrepreneurs and thinking, ‘There’s very few people like us,’” Beahon said. “Everyone else had a safety net—their parents had spare cash and, if it didn’t go well, they’d do something else and it would be okay. I didn’t feel like that.”
Unlike some silver-spoon-fed founders, Beahon’s family didn’t have a “spare £40,000 lying around.” With a teacher mom and construction-worker dad, Beahon recalled his parents making a “huge sacrifice” by offering to remortgage their house to give them a loan in launching Castore. Those dire circumstances 10 years ago feel very far away from the success his brand brings in now—but his pivot to entrepreneurism was about financial stability, not ultra-wealth, anyway.
“More than wanting to make a certain amount of money, I was driven by the feeling of security. My dad was always nervous about being made redundant, and it affected the family,” he said. “Being successful to the point of having security was always the goal.”
Other millionaires are still pinching their pennies too
Beahon isn’t the only one to skimp out on holidays and expensive clothes, despite being on the come-up of great financial success. Even the youngest self-made billionaire who knocked Taylor Swift off the top spot, Lucy Guo, still shops at Shein and pulls up to work in a Honda Civic.
Serial investor Mark Cuban also didn’t go on vacation for the first seven years of getting his technology company MicroSolutions off the ground. He said that at the time he was “broke as f-ck” living in a three-bedroom apartment with five other roommates, often sleeping on the floor. While all his other friends were going out on the weekends, he was head-down in growing his business out of fear that the whole thing “could fall into the sh-tter.” He later sold MicroSolutions to H&R Block for $6 million.
Actress Keke Palmer was also a millionaire at the age of 12—but just like Beahon, her humble upbringing guided the way she handled money forever. For the first 15 years of her career, all of her travel was business-related. And she still lives under her means in other ways; Palmer said that even with $1 million in her pocket, she’d still only rent out a $1,500 place and affordable car—no need for a Bentley. She got her penny-pinching habits from her parents, who worked with what they had.
“I learned from my parents very early on because they knew their limitations with money and finances,” Palmer told CNBC Make It earlier this year. “I believe in saving and frugality…I don’t play around with that.”
David’s Bridal CEO Kelly Cook may be leading one of the biggest bridal chains in the country, but her early career looked a lot different. Years ago she was barely scraping by, juggling weekend work as a bartender, her college courses, and caring for her young child. Cook described living off pinto beans and cornbread to make her money stretch, her take-home pay of $882 as a single mom barely covering her car note and rent. Now, the 58-year-old is helming a wedding giant with 200 stores across the U.S. and Canada, leading around 5,000 employees.
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